By bbc.com
Publication Date: 2025-11-12 16:06:00
The boss of one of Britain’s largest online retailers has predicted that the use of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will reduce its workforce by two-thirds within the next three years.
Nick Glynne, managing director of Buy It Direct, which owns Appliances Direct, told BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money that the future outlook for UK recruitment for his company was “very bleak”.
The company employs more than 800 people and it has been estimated that more than 500 jobs will be cut, but this is not yet a “firm plan”, although the process will be accelerated by additional costs imposed on the company by the government, Mr Glynne said.
The Treasury Department has been contacted for comment.
Huddersfield-based Buy It Direct operates a number of online retail brands including Furniture 123.
It is a global company that employs an additional 150 people overseas and has a customer service office in the Philippines.
Mr Glynne said increases in the national living wage and social security contributions were…
